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Just four short hours later, they're at Lourdes Hospital at 11 a.m. with lunch. Then it's back to Binghamton General and Wilson at 4:30 p.m. for dinner, and again to Lourdes at 6 p.m.

This schedule is repeated every day but Sunday by a group of Broome-Tioga BOCES employees. They're called the Hospital Heroes, and have stepped up to coordinate the pick-up and delivery of free meals for employees of the three area hospitals.

The Bagel Factory in Binghamton provided breakfast for 30 front line workers on April 4, sponsored by a community member through the Hospital Heroes program.(Photo: Provided)

Hospital Heroes is the brainchild of Vanessa Moschak, the assistant principal of Broome-Tioga BOCES. The group acts as a go-between for the eateries and hospitals by contacting restaurants, ordering meals, and arranging pick up and deliveries.

When Shelly Monahan, a special education teacher, learned of Moshak's idea of coordinating free meals for hospitals, she was quick to join the team. Monahan had been looking for a way to help health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, aside from the regular work she and the BOCES staff had been doing to help students acclimate to school closings.

"We were the helpers, but we didn't have anybody to help," Monahan said. "We're doing what we can for our students, of course, first and foremost, but beyond that we're use to helping people all day and really going above and beyond. When she started this, we kind of jumped at the chance."

The Hospital Heroes program has coordinated with local restaurants to donate food to local heath care workers.(Photo: Provided)

Moschak handles the hospital side of the operation, while Monahan runs the group's Facebook page, coordinates drivers and works with restaurants to arrange meals.

Monahan hopes the the effort not only gives back to local heath care workers, but draws good publicity and attention to local eateries at a time when restaurants are struggling to make ends meet.

"We're trying to make it a win/win situation for the local restaurants too, that if they donate then they would get some business back," Monahan said.

The program kicked off on March 25, with meals first delivered to only the two UHS hospitals.

It started small, with volunteers cold calling restaurants to ask for donations. It's quickly grown, with restaurants contacting Monahan through the Facebook page to request to be involved.

The Spiedie & Rib Pit on the Vestal Parkway provided chicken speedies and salad for 30 front line workers on April 3 through the Hospital Heroes program.(Photo: Provided)

There's now about 35 volunteers, with 26 restaurants who have participated as of Thursday. On Monday, Lourdes Hospital joined the program.

"And then, once word got out, it just kept growing and growing from there," Monahan said.

While only BOCES employees complete the pick-up and deliveries, other community members have joined on to help make phone calls, recruit restaurants and provide donations.

"We have our own little network set up already," Monahan said.

After the meals are dropped off, it's up to the hospital to determine which departments receive the food.

Some meals are donated outright by the restaurants. Others are sponsored by a community member, who works with Monahan to determine which restaurant to sponsor and arrange pre-payment for the meals. Monahan then works with the restaurant to work out the specifics. She's also set up a Venmo account to take monetary donations.

Each delivery has enough meals for 30 employees. Meal costs vary, ranging from McDonald's Chicken McNuggets and hamburgers to steak dinners from the Outback Steakhouse.

All of the meals have either been donated by a restaurant or sponsored by a community member. The Hospital Heroes have yet to pay out of pocket for a meal.

The group plans to continue the Hospital Heroes program as long as it's needed.